International flyers will have a better experience at Chennai airport when a part of the new integrated terminal will be thrown open by June 2021.
It is constructed as part of the phase II modernisation project at an estimated cost of ₹2,500 crore. The work started last year.
Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the roofing was being done now; thereafter, the interior work would begin.
“This will be finished in another six months. Once this section is completed, the existing domestic (T1) and international terminals (T4) will function as domestic terminals on two sides. A portion of the new integrated terminal once ready will handle international departure and arrival operations,” an official said.
To be demolished
Then the old international terminal (T3), where passengers arrive now, will be demolished and the remaining work will resume. “Once this portion, too, is completed, all buildings will be connected, and will operate as an integrated terminal,” another official said.
It is crucial that this terminal not have the issues that plague the existing terminals. Passengers have complained about toilets and water leakage in the present terminals for a few years now. Early this year, the work came to a halt with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown. Construction resumed after a few months, but it took a while to get sufficient manpower and for the work to continue in full swing.
The construction of a multi-level car parking lot, with a capacity to hold nearly 2,000 cars, has been progressing well. It is likely to be opened in about four months.
There will be a walkway to link the car parking lot to the domestic or international terminal.
